The Last Dawn
by Pyrrhic
Summary: So much can happen in a moment. Entire lives can be changed. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. With the rising of the sun, their lives were changed forever. With the coming of the dusk, nothing will ever be the same.


Disclaimer - We own nothing, except the plot. Therefore, by law, you cannot sue us for plagiarism. ::nod::  
  
-=-=-=-  
  
"Virginia Weasley! Get down here, right now!"  
  
Ginny Weasley's brown eyes widened as she looked at the Muggle alarm clock next to her bed. Her jaw proceeded to drop as she saw that she was going to be late for work, which is never a good thing we you work for your own father.  
  
"I'm coming!" She yelled, rushing back and forth across her room to gather clothes. Placing her hair up in a messy bun, she ran down the rickety stairs of The Burrow, straight into her father. She cringed at the look of frustration and annoyance on his face.  
  
"Sorry Dad!" She cried as she tried to steady herself on a chair while roughly slipping on her left shoe. She hastily tied the laces and straightened herself up again to face him.  
  
"This is no way to start off your first week of work." He said indignantly and grabbed his robe from the nearby coat rack. He pulled it on over his Muggle clothing and apparated from the house to the Muggle Artifacts Department of the Ministry of Magic, expecting his daughter to follow him. She gave her mother a kiss on the cheek before disappearing from the room with a small pop and landing in the middle of a very crowded room.  
  
Taking a quick look around she realized she had apparated into the wrong department. Hermione and Percy were together in a cubicle in front of her pouring over several sheets of parchment.  
  
"Hey guys," she said hurriedly and smiled at them before briskly exiting the large room. She was glad Hermione had decided to take the Ministry job and become Percy's assistant. They worked perfectly together.  
  
She turned the corner and ran into something very solid, falling to the floor in a torrent of flying red hair and papers. She pushed her curls out of her face and took the hand extended to her. She straightened her black robes and looked into the green eyes of her brother's best friend, Harry Potter. Ron was standing next to him, trying to hide his laughter but failing miserably.  
  
"Don't you work downstairs Gin?" He asked as several small chuckles invaded his speech. She sent him an evil look before bending down to pick up the papers she had caused Harry to drop. The two Aurors waited tolerantly side by side, each tapping their foot in mock impatience.  
  
"Apparating problems." She grumbled and shoved the documents into his waiting hands. He muttered a thank you and rubbed the sore spot on his arm from where they had collided.  
  
"Ginny, you're already late. Go!" Ron said. Her eyes grew wide with realization before she said a swift goodbye to each of them and took the stairs two at a time until she finally arrived in the Muggle Artifacts department.  
  
Into her Dad's office she ran, weaving through the mess of people. Huffing and puffing she slammed the door, and settled down into her chair. "I'm here, I'm here," she panted to her less than pleased father, who was reading the newspaper. "I know I had a late start, but it will never happen again I promise."  
  
"I didn't mean to become so angry, Ginny. I've had a lot on my mind." He responded in an offhanded sort of way. She peered over at the headline in his newspaper but he put it face down on the desk before she got a chance to look at it. "Now, let's get to work shall we? We have a lot of papers to fill out on the case with the woman with the exploding mop."  
  
She nodded in agreement and smiled at how much patience her father possessed. They walked side by side into Perkins' office and began going over parchment after parchment of charts and information involving the case.  
  
They finally stopped to break for lunch. Ginny grabbed the bag her mother had packed for her and sat happily at her desk, munching away at her corned beef sandwich (Ron may not like it, but she certainly didn't mind), and spontaneously taking a sip of pumpkin juice between bites.  
  
She heard a loud bang and looked up to see Hermione bursting through the doors of the Muggle Artifacts department and walking towards her with quick strides. It wasn't until she was close up that Ginny realized that she had tears pouring down her cheeks, smearing her mascara and making black spots on her starchy white blouse.  
  
"Have you heard yet?" She said in between sobs. Ginny looked at her in confusion and led her to a chair where she could sit down. She took the older girls hand in hers and tried to comfort her.  
  
"Ron and Harry." Hermione said, taking deep breaths. "They're leaving."  
  
"Leaving? Leaving to go where?" She would have been lying if she said she wasn't totally lost. "They've gone off on assignments before and you've never been this upset. I mean I know you love Ron and all and don't want him to leave, but they'll be back soon. They're never gone for very long."  
  
"No, Ginny! You don't understand. This time it's different!" She covered her face with her hands and added nothing more to her statement. Ginny's eyes wandered from the weeping woman in front of her to around the room, and finally came to rest on the Daily Prophet open on a nearby desk. One word jumped out at her and everything Hermione had said was suddenly crystal clear. She felt her own eyes begin to water and the first of many tears began to slide down her cheeks.  
  
Voldemort.  
  
There was a dull thump as Ginny fell down into a nearby chair, the realization slamming into her like a ton of bricks.  
  
"How? Why? When?" Ginny stammered, at a loss for words.   
  
  
  
"I found out just a couple minutes before I came to get you. Ginny we may never see them again. What are we going to do?" Hermione practically yelled, her fear causing panic to break free from within her. She dropped out of the chair onto her knees, sobbing with her head in her hands.  
  
Ginny, in a state of shock with tears streaming down her face, knelt down next to her friend, putting an arm around her. She just held onto Hermione murmuring words of reassurance. She glanced back at the newspaper, absentmindedly and her jaw dropped. The paper. Her Dad's office. Suddenly, her grief and fear turned into a boiling rage.  
  
"He tried to hide it from me," She growled.  
  
"What?" Hermione croaked.  
  
"I'm sorry, Hermione, but I have to go do something really quick. I'll be back as soon as possible." She said, before dashing off to her Dad's office.  
  
Her footsteps pounded in her ears and her heart pounded in her ears, as her anger reached the breaking point. She shoved the door open, slamming into the wall. Her father jumped and peered up at her curiously.  
  
"Ginny, what's wrong?" He asked, utterly and completely confused.   
  
  
  
"What's wrong? What's wrong?" She pressed on, furious at her dad's look of innocence. "What's wrong is that my brother and my friend are going off to fight You-Know-Who and you didn't even have the decency to tell me?" She screamed at him, her chest heaving with frustration and fury. Arthur Weasley's face fell.   
  
  
  
"Oh, Ginny. I'm sorr-"  
  
"No! Save it! How could you hide this from me? I'm not a little girl anymore! I'm going to have to face reality sometime, you know! And this involves me too! Ron is not just your son, he's my brother!" She argued.  
  
"I know! I'm sorry, really I am! I just was trying to protect you! No matter how big you get you'll always be my little girl and I don't want to see you unhappy!" He finished his speech and held one of her hands in both of his own.  
  
Ginny found it impossible to be mad at him. He had always been protective of her. She shook her head and smiled sadly, letting two tears fall to the floor. She walked around to the other side of the desk and sat in her father's lap and they cried silently together, both terribly afraid of what was yet to come.  
  
Hermione started to come in but abruptly stopped in the doorway when she saw the scene before her. Ginny and her father looked up and he urged her to go talk to her friend. Giving his hand one last squeeze, the two women left the room together.  
  
"What do you need Hermione?" Ginny asked tenderly. Both girls still had red eyes from the excessive crying they had done that day.  
  
"Well, I've been thinking about this since Percy told about Harry and Ron having to leave and all," she said quietly. "And I was wondering if after Ron goes if you might come live with me in the flat. I don't really want to be alone after he's gone, you know? That's just too much."  
  
Ginny's face lit up when she heard this. She had always loved Ron and Hermione's flat. It was spacious and clean, and she had been trying to find a suitable one for herself since she had turned twenty almost six months ago.  
  
"Of course Hermione! That's a great idea, really. We can help each other. I need to get out of The Burrow anyway." Both girls grinned and hugged each other tightly, letting go of some of the fright they felt.  
  
"So it's set then? The minute they leave you're moving in." Ginny shook her head energetically. "I need to go back to work, lunch break ended a long time ago."  
  
"Yeah, me too. I'll talk to you later okay? I'll come over to your flat later and the four of us can talk this thing out." Hermione nodded and hugged Ginny once more before leaving.  
  
Arthur smiled desolately when Ginny came back into the office, looking slightly happier.  
  
"You're leaving us then? I thought you might, it's probably time for you to go off on your own." He looked down at his hands before returning his eyes to the red haired maiden standing before him. "Go home. Take Hermione and go tell your mother. She needs to hear it from you."  
  
With a sigh of despair, Ginny walked back out to Hermione. "We have to go break the news to my mother. I'm afraid, Hermione. I don't know how she'll handle this." She said, creases of worry forming on her forehead.  
  
"It'll be alright, Ginny. I'll help you." Hermione answered. And with that, they both apparated to The Burrow.  
  
"Ginny! Hermione!" Came a cheery voice as they appeared in The Burrow's kitchen. Ginny strangled a sob. Hearing her mother's happiness was only going to make this harder for her. Before she had time to check her face for any signs of tears, Hermione and she were scooped up into warm arms. "It's so good to see you, girls!" Ginny crying became harder.   
  
"Mum," she choked out. "Harry and Ron, they're.they're on a mission."   
  
Mrs. Weasley pulled back. "What did you say, dear?"   
  
"You-Know-Who. There--There are problems with him, again. Harry and Ron were sent out with a group of Aurors to stop him, oh mum!" She broke down and buried her head in the faded calico fabric of the older woman's shoulder, sobbing loudly.   
  
Hermione bent down cried on her other shoulder, slightly quieter than Ginny.   
  
Mrs. Weasley seemed to think she hadn't heard right. She stared at the droplets of tears forming small wet spots on her blouse and then back at the two defeated girls, finally comprehending the news.   
  
"Oh, Merlin."  
  
-=-=-=-  
  
"You're sure you have to go then?" Ginny asked her older brother as he stood in the doorway of the flat Hermione and he shared, suitcase in hand. Harry stood next to him, both of them looking rather morbid.  
  
It had been a very tear filled morning, full of pleading with each other to stay or understand. And now it was ending with the leaving of the two Aurors, off to save the world again, just like they had done all of their school days.  
  
Ron shook his head and dropped his suitcase with a loud thud on the imitation wood floor. He engulfed his little sister and fiancée in a huge hug as silent tears formed in his eyes and landed in their hair. When he finally pulled away it was Harry's turn to get emotional and he embraced them each separately; reluctantly-saying goodbye to two of his best friends, not knowing when he would see them again.  
  
"Bye." The four of them said in unison and Harry and Ron left before any more tears would be shed in their presence. Ginny despondently picked up her own small backpack she used for a suitcase and slowly walked into the guest bedroom, placing the bag in her navy blue armchair. She then collapsed onto the bed and cried. Hermione watched her gloomily from the doorway before going into the kitchen and beginning to prepare lunch for the two of them.  
  
She absentmindedly prepared the food before looking down and realizing what she had made, chicken and rice, Ron's favorite. Now it was Hermione's turn to break down. She gripped the countertop so tightly that her knuckles turned white to keep herself from falling. Her tears dripped down and fell onto their food. She looked at them and shrugged, 'Well, now I don't have to salt it.' She thought and laughed to herself.  
  
She set the two plated down on the dining table and knocked on Ginny's door.  
  
"Gin? You want some lunch?" The door opened to reveal a very troubled Ginny Weasley. She nodded and followed Hermione to the table. Ginny sat silently, staring at the food in front of her.  
  
"This is Ron's favorite." She muttered. "I can't believe they're really gone."  
  
-=-=-=-  
  
A/N: We had fun writing this chapter and hope you had fun reading it. Whether you liked it or not, please give us some feedback (a.k.a. review) and tell us what should be improved. ::wink:: 


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